A classic movie that was once removed from HBO Max makes its return, but comes with a little bit extra. ‘Gone With The Wind’ was previously pulled from the catalog amid the protests and calls for racial justice, but now HBO Max is bringing it back.
‘Gone With The Wind’ was pulled when civil rights activists criticized the film, but that didn’t last long.
Now the move will be available on the streaming service once again and it also has extra content that will help contextualize the movie. The contextual content is two conversations that were recorded to help give viewers the extra information, if they seek to watch it.
Some viewers might just watch the movie and not need the added context.
“In one video, film scholar and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) host Jacqueline Stewart discusses the importance of the 1939 film — which she calls “one of most enduringly popular films of all time” — being seen in its original form.” (Fox News)
Stewart talks about how the movie has quite a rough history since it was protested back at the time it was being made. It’s criticized for trying to portray the “Antebellum South” in a beautiful way, but almost ignoring the harsh reality of slavery.
Stewart said, “the film’s treatment of this world through a lens of nostalgia denies the horrors of slavery, as well as its legacies of racial inequality.” Stewart reminds viewers that one of the top stars, Hattie McDaniel, is the first black person to win the coveted Academy Award, but she was not allowed to be seated with her own co-stars because of her race. She portrayed Mammy in the movie.
Stewart continued, saying that “watching ‘Gone With the Wind’ can be uncomfortable, even painful,” Stewart said, per Variety. “Still, it is important that classic Hollywood films are available to us in their original form for viewing and discussion.”
The second extra feature is a recorded panel discussion called “The Complicated Legacy of ‘Gone With the Wind.”
This is held and moderated by Donald Bogle, a historian and author.
